Rediscovery
by elhake
Summary: Gregor survives his fight with the Bane, but the fireflies never find him. The story follows his exit from the underland and what happens when the underlanders suddenly find him again after 7 years thinking he was dead
1. Chapter 1

Gregor vaulted onto Ares' back. "Go!" he shouted. "Go!"

Ares didn't object, but he did remind Gregor: "They will know now! That you still have life!"

Ripred had told Gregor to lie low until the Bane arrived, but that seemed of little importance now. He hardly notice– or cared– that his appearance was a huge shocker for the rats, who began to howl his name the second he and Ares left the rocks.

Gregor ignored them. He would deal with the Bane later, if the white rat even showed up. Now he had a far more urgent mission, and he wasn't going to make it. He just wasn't. He knew Ares well enough to gauge the distance and calculated the amount of time he would take to get to his sisters. From that he knew that the rats would overwhelm Nike and tear his family to shreds before he could get there.

All Gregor could do was watch and yell as the rats tore past Nike into the opening where his family was hiding. Seconds later, Gregor and Ares dove into battle and started hacking desperately to get to Gregor's family. It was like the first few fights for Gregor, when he let the rager take over his actions completely. But he was so afraid, so deeply terrified for Boots and Lizzie, that he could not contain himself. He hacked and sliced indiscriminately, every slice and stab a death blow in his desperation.

Ares had to arch back and crack Gregor in the face to get his attention. "Gregor!"

"What?" Gregor snarled back. "Get in there, Ares! I have to kill those rats!"

"Try this one!" Ares said. The bat swung around and there was the Bane, right in his face.

It seemed to Gregor as if the Bane had appeared out of nowhere. Almost as if he had appeared out of the ground to exact his revenge, Ares had to veer sharply to avoid the Banes wild claws.

"We must have more space!" said Ares. They couldn't fight the Bane trapped up against this wall. They needed more room to maneuver.

"But my sisters–!" Gregor began, but he knew he had to let them go and hope. This may be his last chance to end this whole thing. "All right!" he finally yelled.

Ares flew back to the heart of the battle, drawing the Bane after them. Gregor had a few moments to assess his opponent, and boy was he a mess! Scarred and hurting from their last encounter, the stump of the Bane's tale was capped with a ball of bloody spider silk. Losing the tail made the Bane move unsteadily, but the real change was the look in his eyes. One glance told Gregor he had crossed from damaged to demented.

"Where'd he come from?" he asked Ares.

"The tunnel to the right," Ares replied. "I know it. It leads farther into the rats lands."

"Is there much room?" asked Gregor.

"Yes. A large tunnel, then more caverns," said Ares.

"Take it," said Gregor. "Lets make him work for it." Hopefully a chase would wear the Bane out a bit and keep him away from anyone else. It would also allow them to fight alone, one-on-one.

Ares shot down the tunnel, and the Bane was right behind them, bouncing off the walls, roaring. The torches were gone, but echolocation told Gregor that the tunnel led into a rocky cavern that soared high in the air. Ares flew higher, but the Bane followed every time, leaping over boulders. Eventually, once they'd flown into and isolated cave with dripping rock formations, Ares was able to land on a plateau for a moment and rest.

"Will this place do?" Ares asked.

"It's perfect," said Gregor.

As the Bane took one last leap onto the plateau and Ares took flight, Gregor noticed the rat riding on the Bane's back. Twirltongue.

She leaped off the Bane to a safe vantage point. It was all Gregor to do not to take her out then and there. She was to blame for all the evil plotting and violence. "You're looking good Twirltongue," Gregor called out. "A little too good, seeing any action? Or are you just sending the Bane to lose his tail and such?"

"My tail? My tail?" said the Bane. He began to move in circles, trying to locate it. "My tail!"

"A king does not need a tail," said Twirltongue.

"He's not going to be king," said Gregor. "Are you Pearlpelt?"

The name distracted the Bane from his tail. "I am king. I am king now! The rats follow me!"

"Then how come they're out there attacking you, along with the whole rest of the Underland?" asked Gregor.

"Twirltongue says I'm the king!" said the Bane.

"Yeah? Is that how it looks to you?" said Gregor. "Because from up here, it looks like she's getting you killed so she can take over."

"What? What?" The Bane was so far gone that that was all it took. He turned to Twirltongue, his eyes narrowing into slits. "You will never take over. I'm the king! I'm the king!" The Bane sprang and, in one bite, ripped Twirltongue's head from her body. After tossing it aside, the Bane stroked his eyes and looked around in confusion. "Where's Twirltonge? Where did she go?" The Bane's eyes rested on Twirltongue's dead body. "You killed her!" he roared. With that the twelve foot rat launched himself at Gregor and Ares, the fight had finally begun.

Ares dodged the rat's first attack. By the time the bat had spun back around, Gregor's rager state was in full gear. He was not overcome by it however. In fact, he had deadly precision that made him feel invincible. This must be what Ripred felt all the time.

"Go for his face!" Gregor said. This strategy had worked well before and now the Bane had no tail to retaliate with.

But if the Bane had been a challenge back in Regalia, there had been at least some sense to actions. Now his motions were erratic and unpredictable. The Bane swiped at them again and again, not bothering to block Gregor's attacks, ignoring his own wounds as his claws found Ares' wing, Gregors arm, Ares' ear.

"Pull back!" Gregor shouted and Ares whipped out of the Bane's reach.

"We need a new plan," said Gregor, trying to twist the sleeve of his shirt into a sort of bandage.

"He has lost his balance," said Ares.

"Use it," Gregor responded.

Ares began to dive in wild circles around the Bane. The rat soon became disoriented, lurching from side to side, but was still fighting bitterly. Gregor did some damage to his paws, but that was all his sword could make contact with.

"I've got to get in closer if I'm going to take him out!" said Gregor.

"Hang on!" said Ares, and suddenly they were spinning over and over, and Gregor found himself directly under the Bane's foreleg. He plunged his sword into the soft flesh. The Bane gave a strangled cry and jerked backward, freeing Gregor's blade.

"Get out!" Gregor cried. "Get out, Ares!" He had a terrible sense of dread. Something was wrong about their position, their proximity to the Bane. Even before his bat opened his wings, Gregor knew there was no way they could clear the claws. He thrust his sword in the Banes direction but it was too late. "Ares!" Gregor cried. "No!" Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the rat caught Ares' wing, spun him around so they were face-to-face, and pulled him forward. Gregor dropped Solovets dagger and wrapped both hands around the hilt of his sword. As the Bane sank his teeth into Ares' neck, Gregor's blade pierced the rat's heart. For a moment, they hung there, interconnected, supported by teeth and swords and claws. Then the Bane made an unearthly sound and rammed his free paw against Gregors chest, sending Gregor flying back. His had went to his breastbone. The claws had torn aside his armor and opened a hot wet hole in his chest.

Above him, Ares still dangled from the Bane's jaws. The rat opened his mouth and the bat fell, lifeless to the ground. The Bane pawed at the blade in his chest, trying to dislodge it. Then he became still and slowly curled up into a ball, and rolled onto his back.

He knew they were dead. Both Ares and the Bane. Because there was only one creature breathing. And it was Gregor.

Despite this knowledge, despite the pain, Gregor made his way over to Ares. His vow ran through his head. _Ares the flier I bond to you_. He couldn't finish the words as he grasped Ares' claw in his hand. "Don't go Ares, okay? Please don't go." But he was gone. Gregor rolled onto his back, cradled against his bond's body. The blood was leaving his chest rapidly, mixing on the floor with Ares' and the Bane's.

"This is it," thought Gregor. "This is the end." The blood was flowing too quickly, and no one had come to help him. He could feel the world slipping away from him. The world was going black, and Gregor couldn't really process what he saw. Right as everything went blank, into Gregor's field of view came a lone spinner.


	2. Chapter 2

Gregor awoke in the dark. He wasn't expecting that. Come to think of it, he really hadn't expected to wake up at all. The pain in his chest was excruciating, and he realized he was still curled up next to Ares' dead body, so it couldn't be that this was the afterlife.

A scurrying behind him snapped Gregor out of his confused stupor. He unstuck himself from the bloody ground to look around, but he couldn't find the source of the noise.

"I see you have awoken," a soft voice spoke from behind him. Gregor turned to find that himself face-to-face with a spinner. "I am she called Perflex," the spider said.

"Hey," Gregor croaked out. "What happened? How did I survive that?"

"I am surprised myself. I used my silk to sew you up. You slept for two weeks." Perflex responded. "If you wish to know, there is now peace between the species. Rumors spread that with your death no Overlanders survived this war. I am so sorry."

"What do you mean none survived?" Gregor asked

"I hear the great swatter succumbed to her fever, and the rest of your family did not survive either." Purvox said.

This loss was enough to make Gregor lose control for a moment, even though he didn't believe what he was hearing. Before he could stop himself he kicked Perflex across the cave, where she landed with a sickening thud and curled up into a ball. Realizing what he had done, Gregor set off towards the Plain of Tartarus to confirm what the spider had told him.

Fighting through his rampant hunger, stiff muscles, and the pain in his chest, Gregor worked his way back the way Ares had flown before the battle. Ares, whose claw he still clutched in his hand. The grief flooded his body, dropping him to his knees. Allowing himself to absorb what happened to his bond, Gregor wept until his eyes ran dry. "I have to get myself together and find my sisters," he thought to himself. Finally, after composing himself, he got back to his search.

After half an hour of scrambling over rocks down towards the river, Gregor finally arrived at the aftermath of the battle. The dead were strewn all about in various states of dismemberment. Rats, mice, spiders, crawlers, all were present. Humans and fliers, Gregor noted, were not. It was clear the Regalians had come back to collect their dead. Presumably to give them a proper funeral. "If they came back for all these other people, why didn't they come back for me?" Gregor wondered. From his position it seemed they either didn't care enough, or he had angered Luxa so much that she didn't want to honor him. Probably some combination of the two.

Working his way through the horror and stench left behind by the battle, Gregor climbed into the tunnel where he last saw his sisters alive. Clicking his tongue to get a clearer picture of his surroundings, the scene flashed through his brain. It took a minute for Gregor to recognize what he was seeing, but when he did, it was like every ounce of what made him himself died. In front of him were the dismembered, disfigured bodies of Boots and, to his utter surprise, his father. He couldn't see Lizzie, but from the level of chaos in the surrounding area, it was evident that she wouldn't have made it out alive either.

This was the last straw for Gregor. He had fought and killed for the underlanders. He had lost his bond. He had gone through such horrible things for them, and this was what it got him. His whole family dead, and Gregor himself left behind to rot in the deadlands. It was at that moment that Gregor decided he wanted nothing to do with the underlanders ever again. He would do everything in his power to see the sun again, and hopefully again go without it.

With that thought, Gregor walked into the unknown caves surrounding him. He would live the rest of his life for himself, and by himself.

* * *

 **These first two chapters set the scene for events to come. They start right before Gregor's battle with the Bane, and set out some important changes from the original books. I just got my wisdom teeth out and have some time off work, so I finally got time to get these written. This is the story I posted about post/145821570206/tuc-au-story-outline**


	3. Chapter 3

****University of Virginia- 7 years later****

The mid-October track practice wound down as Gregor slowed to a walk and began to stretch with his teammates. He found that, sometimes, when he was surrounded by the foliage and smells of Virginia in the fall he could just forget about his past and be content with the present. Even after all the hard work he had put in to reintegrate into life alone in the overland, he still couldn't get over the events of his past.

"Gregor, bud, you're killing us out there," Gregor's teammate Nate said from behind him, "Also, you almost look happy. It's freaking me out man, whats up?"

"Nothing man. I always look happy." Gregor responded.

"If you say so, but I'm pretty sure it's the serious look that's always on your face that enchants every girl you talk to." Said Nate

"Yeah, that's not irritating at all." Said Gregor.

"I will never understand you, and I'm not sure I want to." Nate responded as he walked away.

That seemed to be most people's attitudes about Gregor. He did his best to fly under the radar, and it wasn't too hard. Anyone who ever thought about messing with him took one look in his eyes and stopped before they started. On the same note, he had to stay away from most social settings or he would get unwanted attention from curious girls and guys alike. In reality only his teammates had ever seen the more obvious of his scars. He warded off their questions as best he could, and eventually they figured out not to ask.

The conversation snapped Gregor out of his happy trance, and he was flooded with memories from his past. Wandering through the pitch black of the deadlands, scrounging for the smallest scraps of food. It was 4 years of complete solitude and starvation before he stumbled upon an unknown entrance back to the overland. It didn't end there for him though. He found himself in the backwoods mountains of southwestern Virginia with no way to support himself. 2 years hard work on various farms, bouncing from barns to basements where he slept, and Gregor managed to build himself a bit of a life. He even got a scholarship to run cross-country at a good school. Life seemed to be looking up for him.


	4. Chapter 4

****Regalia****

"Hazard, you have convinced us." Luxa said. "It would be beneficial to everyone for you to get an education in the overland."

"How will we make arrangements for my travel and lodging and such? There must be a registration process." Hazard responded.

"I believe I may be of some help there," said Vikus, "I do still have some contact with the overland. I'll see what I can do."

"Good news Hazard, Luxa, I have made arrangements for Hazard to take classes at the University of Virginia! You will depart in one week to start the first semester, I have arranged travel for you in the overland."

"That's great!" Said Hazard.

"Indeed it is," responded Luxa, "however, I would like to know how you managed to arrange all of this."

"I worked with Ripred to send messages through his small overland scouts." Vikus explained. "He and I worked with the few contacts we have up there to get this worked out. His only condition was that he gets to go with you. He wants to confirm something his scouts have been reporting to him."

"Why must he always be so mysterious?" Asked Luxa.

"You know how he is, but if he is traveling all that way with you this rumor must be big."

****Virginia****

The cab rolled up to the admissions office at UVA and unloaded its strange passengers. The giant rat got a few strange looks, but the majority of students were notified beforehand that this would occur. Hazard and the underlanders situated themselves with relative ease, moving Hazard into his dorm and registering him for classes. Hazard convinced Luxa to take a brief vacation from her responsibilities to ease him away from home.

Luxa and Ripred had stayed in Virginia for nearly a week, and Ripred was beginning to wonder why he had no answers about his reports. Luxa and Hazard traveled into the mountains surrounding school and took in the fall foliage. Despite all the wonderful new things, Luxa was losing patience and wanted to return to her responsibilities, and Ripred had lost all hope of closure. They decided to stay the rest of the week, more to spend the time with Hazard than anything else. As the week came to a close Hazard brought one last event to their attention.

"Luxa, Ripred, my roommate and I are going to go watch the running race this weekend, apparently we have the favorite to win. I want you two to come with us, as a final goodbye." Hazard told the two.

"That sounds like a fitting send off, what do you think Ripred?" Responded Luxa.

"Sounds like a plan to me your highness." Said Ripred.

"Excellent, I believe I saw a flier for this event. It is tonight, is it not?" Said Luxa.

"Correct. We should get going now if we want to get good seats." Said Hazard.

****UVA Track Stadium****

"Rounding the final corner its UVA coming in for first and second! We'll have to wait for results and the rest of the runners before we know who got that one." The announcer exclaimed excitedly. "And it looks like the winner is… Gregor Collins!"

"…" the crowd was cheering excitedly but the group of underlanders stood silent.

Finally Ripred broke the silence. "It cant be…"

 **I know these last two were a bit short, but im back at school and my time is limited. plus im no good at dialogue.**

 **and now a little message for y'all that i feel fits this story well, courtesy of the Replacements:**

 **"The ones who love us best, are the ones we lay to rest,**

 **and visit their graves on holidays at best.**

 **The ones who love us the least, are the ones we'll die to please.**

 **If its any consolation, i dont begin to understand them."**

 **-The Replacements: Bastards of Young**


	5. Chapter 5

After the track meet had finished, Gregor returned to his dorm with a few of his teammates- Nate, Charlie, Brendan (and his girlfriend), Brian, and Danielle. "Good job y'all, we ran well today. Good results all around." he said to them.

"Oh, look. Gregor's already spoken his one sentence for the night!" Brian joked.

"Hey man, we almost had a full conversation the other day! He said almost a paragraph! I learned that he wants girls to leave him alone." Nate said jokingly as he poked Gregor with his elbow.

"Whatever guys, we had a good night. Lets try to enjoy that." Gregor said as he turned up the music. Somehow he always managed to fall in with the punk rock crowd. It wasn't his absolute favorite, but he liked the message. Something about the message and the way it was tied to a chaotic style struck a chord with him. It probably had something to do with the turmoil inside him and his feelings about what he had done in the past, but he really tried not to think about that.

"Right, lets get this pizza out, I'm starving." said Charlie.

"Yeah, no kidding. Hey, did you guys hear about the new foreign kid that's coming to the building? He's from some country I've never even heard of, and the people who came with him look really strange." said Brendan.

"With your knowledge of geography they could be from Canada." replied Nate.

"Hey! Uncalled for!" Brendan replied. "They really were strange looking. Super pale, light blonde hair, weird clothes, the works!"

"I'm still going with Canadian then." Nate replied.

"I'm going to run out and grab the pizza. In the meantime, I hope y'all can come up with something better to talk about." Gregor said, walking out the door.

* * *

"Yo, I've got the pizza. Y'all owe me five bucks each, and turn down the music. We don't want a noise complaint." Gregor said as he walked back in the door. "Are you geniuses still stuck on this new kid?"

"Nope, right now we're debating who we think you should go out with." responded Brian. "I think you have a thing for Mason, but Charlie says Alyson. Want to settle the debate for us?"

"Ugh." Gregor grunted in annoyance as he sat down to eat.

"One of the foreign people stopped by while you were out by the way. Aparently the new kid lives next door and she got the wrong room." Nate told Gregor.

"Mhm." Gregor responded with his mouth full. The last thing he cared about at the moment was the new kid. He could meet him later. For now he just wanted to relax in his own dorm room and not have to meet new people.

That was always painful for him, getting to know new people. He liked it best if people just left him alone and didn't try to get to know him. He couldn't count on having reasonable answers if they asked questions, and they always did. If Gregor could just stay in his little circle of people who had learned not to ask and get on with his life he would. After all, he had no family and wasn't close with his friends. He had grown to believe that personal attachments would only lead to pain and separation. He buried himself in his studies and his workouts in an attempt to live a normal life after four years wandering in the pitch black with no food and another three years of hard work in the overland to get in his current position. It did allow him to avoid getting too close to the people around him without getting lonely though.

After about an hour of idle chit-chat the pizza was gone and everyone but Gregor wanted to go out and party a little. He never had gotten over his fear of crowds. Somehow every time he was in a crowded room he was worried people would start throwing things at him, like they had when he didn't kill the baby Bane.

"Come on Gregor, its not like anything interesting is going to happen if we just stay in all night!" said Danielle

"I've had enough 'interesting' for one lifetime thanks." Gregor responded. "I think I would rather stay in and listen to this Minor Threat playlist this chick in my calc. class gave me. It was a bit strange honestly, I didn't think people still did that sort of thing."

"We've been listening to that all evening, what kind of 'interesting' could you be sick of?" Danielle replied, imitating his use of air quotes.

"What's my number one rule?" Gregor asked, quickly getting irritated with her.

"Don't ask questions." Danielle mumbled in response.

"Atta girl," Gregor responded, "rules keep everyone safe. Now, I'm going to run and change real quick." With that he briefly left the room.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it." Brendan said, opening the door. He was greeted by a young man with green eyes and dark hair and a very pale girl with a cocky look in her eye.

"Hello, I recently moved in to the room next to you and am intrigued by the music you are listening to. It is quite different from the music that I grew up listening to. Also, I am new to this school and was wondering if you could answer a few of my questions?" the boy said.

"Sure thing bud. Why don't you come in and sit down." Brendan said, inviting them in. "What are your names?" he asked just a Gregor walked back into the room.

"My name is Hazard, and this is my cousin Luxa."

The two were facing away from Gregor, but the instant he heard Hazard introduce himself he froze. He stood there thinking about what he could do, but for some reason he was drawing a complete blank. After a moment, Brian spoke up and said "Gregor bud, you look a bit shell shocked. You alright?"

Luxa and Hazard turned around when Brian spoke, catching sight of Gregor. He barely noticed the shocked expressions on their faces as he stood there still frozen. He just stood there trying to compose himself. In the end the best he could come up with was muttering to himself– "son of a bitch."

 **Gregor has lived in the south the entire time after he came out of the underland. He says y'all.**

 **I'm still dealing with some infected wisdom teeth, and the meds mess with my head, so I'm sorry i havent uploaded regularly. If you have any questions let me know.**

 **and now, the song for this chapter (im gonna make this a thing)**

 **"Pay for your freedom, find another gate,**

 **Guilt by associate, the rushes wilted a long time ago."**

 **-REM: Green Grow the Rushes**


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone in the room sat in awkward silence for a solid five minutes. All of Gregor's teammates were utterly confused, but they sensed the tension in the air and decided that it would be best for them to stay out of the way of an emotionally charged encounter.

It was at this time that Ripred walked through the open door in search of Luxa and Hazard. "Alright your highness, we've been here long enough, it's time to head back." This got a chorus of surprised and panicked looks from all of Gregor's friends. Still all Gregor could muster in this situation was an angry growl at the appearance of the one creature he actively wanted to kill.

"Ripred, perhaps you should take stock of who is in the room with us." Hazard said, subtly nodding his head towards Gregor.

Ripred stood and took a quick look around the room, eyes finally settling on Gregor. "And here I thought my scouts were playing a joke on me," he said "but since it's true, I do have a number of questions."

Gregor ignored him and addressed his friends. "Stop looking so scared you panzies, he won't hurt you. He's just a big softy." That got a nice growl and flashed fangs from Ripred. While Gregor was maintaining a collected demeanor on the outside, every bone in his body was screaming at him to kill Ripred right then and there. After all, his entire family died under Ripred's watch, and Ripred had promised to get them out alive.

"Gregor, how can you be here? We all thought you dead." Hazard asked.

"Well Danielle, how's this for interesting? In any case, you were right. We should have left about 10 minutes ago and spared ourselves all this." Gregor said, gesturing at the uninvited guests sitting on his couch.

"Well, I think we're all missing a big chunk of backstory, but I take it you have a history with these people. And, well, rat." Danielle responded, wide eyed.

"Are you just going to ignore everything we say boy? Not even going to say hello to your little girlfriend?" Ripred said. Luxa on the other hand, was still where she first sat down, completely frozen. She kept her eyes locked on Gregor the whole time with a conflicted look on her face. "I thought we meant something to you. It's only polite to greet your friends when you see them. What's more, I've never known you to be the quiet type. What say you warrior?" Ripred continued.

"I say you should be glad I'm tired and unarmed right now, or I may just have killed you already you worthless gnawer." Gregor responded, maintaining his deadpan tone and expression. "But I really don't think now is the time to pick at old wounds."

"Boy, we thought you dead for seven years." said Ripred. "Your little girlfriend here didn't talk to anyone for a month. We all mourned you, we have a holiday in your honor! And now here you are, alive and kicking, at the school we just happen to send Hazard to. Now is exactly the time to have a little chat."

"Gregor, what the hell is going on here? What are they talking about?" Nate asked.

"It's a long story bud." Gregor responded. "I'm not going to bore you with the details. Basically I fell into an underground world when I was 11, found my long lost dad, fought a war or two, killed a giant white rat, and watched my family die. This I why you don't ask questions."

"Shit man, sorry. Why does he keep calling that girl your girlfriend?" Brian inserted.

"Because he's an ass, that's enough questions from the peanut gallery." Gregor said before turning back to Ripred. "What makes you think that I would ever want to see any of you again?"

Luxa snapped out of here trance once he said that. She got up and walked over to him, poking him gently in the chest as if to check that he was really alive. "Why? Why did you not come back to me?" she whispered.

"I couldn't. I got my chest ripped off." Gregor responded. "Also, y'all left me to rot in the deadlands. You clearly didn't care enough to come get me, why should I have walked my way back to Regalia? Oh, and by the way, we probably could have saved Ares if you people had just come and looked for us." He was beginning to get mad at that point, so much so that he could feel his rager sensations buzzing subtly through his veins. To calm himself he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a wooden box with a few things wrapped in cloth. Unwrapping the cloth he pulled out all he had left of the underland besides his sword– the dagger Solovet gave him and Ares' claw. He stood there looking tiredly at them for some time before he spoke again. "I found Boots' and my mother's bodies and I just started walking. I eventually found my way out after a few years starving alone in the dark. I tried to put everything behind me, so no. I didn't bother to return to Regalia first. I've been alone for the last seven years and not once have I regretted that decision."

"I am so sorry." Luxa responded, still whispering. "I can offer no explanation for our actions, only my sincerest apologies." She walked over to hug him and, as he had literally backed himself into a corner, there was nothing he could do to avoid it. She pulled back after almost ten seconds, and Gregor could have sworn he saw a single tear running down her cheek. "I did then, and still do now, love you. I hope now that we know you are alive, and you can no longer hide from us, you will consider coming back to Regalia with us and starting over."

"I have a life here. I worked damn hard to start over, and I don't think my friends would appreciate it if I just up and left." Gregor responded.

"Actually, I'm kind of curious about this Regalia place." Charlie said.

"Me too, I wouldn't mind visiting. I think we all would go for a visit if it meant learning more about your past, am I right guys?" Brendan said, to unanimous agreement from Gregor's overland friends.

"Ok, but what makes you think I want to go? What reason would I ever have to go back?" Gregor responded.

"Besides the fact that I had hoped you would come back to me, there is one thing I can think of that would draw you back to us." Luxa said.

"And just what would that be?" Gregor asked.

"You only saw Boots' and your mother's bodies correct?" responded Luxa.

"Yeah, get to the point" Gregor said impatiently.

"Well," Luxa explained, "I suppose you heard about your father's death, but there is something you should know. Your sister Lizzie is still alive and living in the palace with me."

 **elhake here. i have no idea what i want to do with gregor and luxa's relationship from this point out. im sure it'll come to me eventually, but i could use some input. anyway, heres your song for the chapter (its gonna be a thing, not like fetch. im gonna make it a thing)**

 **"In starlit nights I saw you**

 **So cruelly you kissed me**

 **Your lips a magic world,** **Your sky all hung with jewels**

 **The killing moon,** **Will come too soon"**

 **-Echo and the Bunnymen: The Killing Moon**


End file.
